Four
months ago, Tevita and Salaita Ofafonua were living in
misery. Bad drainage and sewage under the house made their
home permanently wet, smelly and unhealthy.

When New
Zealand found out about the situation, the generosity just began
pouring in. Rod Perceval from Master Builders Association and
project manager Marty Van Der Burg, Steve Marshall from Now
Couriers, Placemakers and Hirepool are some of those have have
given time and money to help the Ofafonua's.

The time
for celebration has finally come, as the work is finished and
Tevita, Salaita, Mele, Sofia and Pomale are finally able to move
into their miracle, a new home.

How it began

Ofafonua
family of Otahuhu in Auckland who four years ago purchased a
house that had many unseen structural and drainage problems.

Their home
would flood with sewage in times of heavy rain, which caused not
only damage to the flooring, but also ongoing health issues for the
family. The Holmes programme sought independent advice from
builders, plumbers and stuctural engineers who all agreed the house
was a write-off.

The
Ofafonua family is Tevita (Dad), Silaita (Mum) and kids Mele, Sofia
and Pomale. Tevita and Silaita work long and hard to provide for
their children and to pay off the mortgage on their property.

Since the
initial story went to air we had an overwhelming response from the
public with offers of help. Just days after the first story went to
air, an extraordinary offer came through from Master Builders - in
conjunction with a raft of suppliers - to replace the house in its
entirety with a brand new, custom-designed one.

The
Auckland Registered Master Builders Association begun work on a new
home for the Ofafonua family and worked around the clock with a
wide range of suppliers from throughout New Zealand, to have it
completed in four of months.

The design
of the new house was unveiled and Tevita Ofafonua signed a Master
Build 7 Year Guarantee and building contract.

"Donations
of people's time and building materials have been flooding in from
all over the country. Building is progressing nicely and it's
great to be working on something like this because people are
really coming together to help out a family who have had a really
tough time of it."

Assistance
from a wide range of suppliers has been received, including
donations from:

The
Ofafonua's new home is being built in the Now Couriers warehouse in
Victoria Street Onehunga before the house is transferred back to
the Ofafonua's current Onehunga address.

Master
Builders' Auckland president Rod Percival is project-managing the
construction, which is being overseen by site manager Marty Van Der
Burg. They are building the brand new house in Onehunga on a site
kindly provided by Now Couriers.

In the
meantime, the family has been moved to a temporary abode in
Greenlane, kindly provided by Rod Milner Motors.

It takes a
lot of work to build a house, and Tevita, Silaita and the kids have
expressed their deepest gratitude for the time and energy being
selflessly given up by the people involved in making this
happen.